Contagious
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Severus Snape invented a potion based vaccination for swine flu for the magical world and has to administer the shot to the whole school. What if still someone appears with flu like symptoms? Harry's third year. AU, partly OOC, sick!Harry, sick!Severus


**Contagious**

**~ by Healer Pomfrey ~  
**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

* * *

Severus Snape stepped out of the fireplace and let himself sink in his favourite armchair. '_Thank God this is over_,' he thought, '_although it's not much of a relief considering that the students are going to come back in two weeks' time and I have to brew the vaccination for all of them_.'

On Albus Dumbledore's orders, he had spent most of his summer holidays working together with the Potions Masters and Healers of St. Mungo's in order to develop a potions based swine flu vaccination. Everything would have been easier if the Muggle vaccination worked on magical people; however, the Healers had valid reasons to assume that it would gravely harm their magic and could turn wizards and witches into Squibs. Finally, Severus and his colleagues had managed to develop a vaccination for magical people. During the last two weeks, they had tested it at the hospital, and this afternoon, they had received their own shot.

'_Oh well, I need to get a grip on myself_,' he thought, suddenly feeling extremely tired. He once more stepped into the fireplace and paid the Headmaster a visit, knowing that the old wizard was waiting for him to return.

"Everything went well," he told the Headmaster and his Deputy, who were eyeing him in concern.

"Very well then," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "When do you think we should vaccinate the students, Severus? Right after the Sorting? Or do you want to give them the shot before they board the Hogwarts Express?"

"The earlier the better," Severus replied slowly. "If one of them was already infected with the illness, they'd all have it by the time they reach Hogwarts. On the other hand, it takes about two weeks until the vaccination makes them completely immune."

"Two weeks are not bad," Madam Pomfrey threw in, whom McGonagall had called for the discussion. "What are the possible side effects of the vaccination?"

Severus pulled a parchment from his robe pocket and handed it to the Healer. '_I don't even have to look at the parchment. I can already feel the effects_,' he thought, noticing that his head was beginning to pound badly and that he suddenly felt very cold.

Pomfrey carefully studied the parchment, before she threw Severus a sharp look. "Albus, we will not vaccinate the students, before they ride on the train. They could be very sick from the shot, and I'd prefer to have them here at Hogwarts. Severus, may I do a quick check on you?"

"I'm fine," the Potions Master growled, turning to the Headmaster. "If you allow me to suggest something?" Seeing the Headmaster nod, he proposed, "We can send the students class-wise to the hospital wing during the Welcoming Feast. It would take us thirty minutes for each of the House tables, and we'd be done. Each student would perhaps miss fifteen minutes of the feast, considering that we should keep them for observation for five minutes."

Everyone agreed on the matter, and Madam Pomfrey once again addressed Severus. "Severus, if you like it or not, I'm going to cast a diagnostic spell on you." Ignoring the glare she received in return, she pointed out that the Potions Master's cheeks were uncharacteristically flushed and that he was shivering in spite of sitting in front of the warm fireplace.

"It's all right; it's just the after effects of the vaccination," Severus grudgingly admitted that he was feeling unwell and didn't protest when the Healer pointed her wand at his forehead to take his temperature.

"You're running quite a fever, Severus. I am going to take you with me for observation."

"Severus, go with Poppy. Minerva and I will come and check on you later on," the Headmaster ordered his youngest colleague in a tone that allowed no protest.

Severus grudgingly obeyed and made himself comfortable in the small teacher's room Pomfrey assigned him. She thoroughly checked on him and gave him a fever reducing potion, before she instructed him to sleep. Severus spent the night drifting in and out of sleep, feeling more miserable each time he woke up. He felt himself shivering violently in spite of the warm blanked the Healer had neatly pulled around him, and his whole body felt sore and extremely heavy. He could hardly raise his head enough to drink some much needed water from the glass on his night table.

Severus spent a whole day in bed, feeling as if he was sick with the wizard's flu, before his fever broke, his body felt normal, and his energy returned at least half-way. '_Only 0.1 percent of the people are supposed to show such a harsh reaction to the vaccination_,' he mused. '_I wonder why it hit me so hard. I thought I was relatively strong_.'

"I believe that your immune system is not very strong, Severus," Poppy told him as if she had been able to read his thoughts. "You worked too much, ate too little, and you are lacking sleep and fresh air. Now, I will release you; however, you must not do any work for at least two days. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Severus grudgingly agreed, resolving to just go to bed and sleep some more. '_I don't think I've ever felt so tired before, and the arm in which I received the shot still hurts_,' he thought when he slowly walked down to the dungeons.

Severus spent the following two days sleeping, reading Potions journals and resting, unsure if she should feel annoyed or grateful towards Poppy, Minerva and Albus, who came to his quarters to check on him several times a day. Finally, he felt well enough to begin brewing the vaccination potion as well as all the other potions he still had to brew for the hospital wing. Too soon for his liking, the holidays ended and the students returned to Hogwarts.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Harry Potter was sitting at the Gryffindor table between Hermione on his right side and the Weasley twins on his left, trying in vain to enjoy the Welcoming feast. '_First the matter with Sirius Black, who is said to be after me, then the Dementor on the train and now the information about the vaccination – what a horrible day_,' he thought as he waited for his class to be called to the hospital wing.

Finally, the third year Gryffindor students were called to the infirmary. Harry saw, horrified, that Professor Snape was there together with Madam Pomfrey. A dozen chairs were lined up in front of Madam Pomfrey's office, and they were ordered to sit on a chair. Harry took the last chair, throwing Hermione an anxious look as she sat next to him.

"Did you never get a vaccination before?" she queried in a small voice.

Harry shook his head. "No, the Dursleys only took Dudley to get his vaccinations, but not me."

"Well, you'll be all right. It's over in a blink," the girl reassured him, and Harry threw her a grateful look.

Suddenly, he became distracted when Professor Snape began at the other end of the row to take everyone's temperature. "This is just a precaution, because we can't give anyone the shot, who has a fever above 38 degrees," Madam Pomfrey explained gently, before she began to give the shot to the first students, instructing them to sit on the sofa in her office for five minutes, just to be sure they didn't have grave problems from the shot.

Harry shivered slightly as the Potions Master pointed his wand at his forehead and wished himself away into a mouse hole, when the professor raised an eyebrow and gave him a piercing look. The professor waited in front of him, until Madam Pomfrey had given the shot to everyone else, but as soon as Hermione left her seat, he said, "Mr. Potter has a temperature of 34.8 degrees. I don't know why it is so low, but we can't give him the shot."

Madam Pomfrey let out a long sigh. "I understand. Mr. Potter, I am sorry, but I need to keep you here overnight. We need to try to get your temperature up, and as soon as it is back to normal, we'll give you the shot." Turning to Severus, she quickly explained what had happened on the train.

'_Thank God that Gryffindor was the last House to get the vaccination. I wouldn't want anyone else to see me here_,' Harry thought in relief as the Potions Master led him to the first bed right next to the office, laid out hospital pyjamas for him and instructed him to get ready for bed. During the night, he jerked awake from nightmares every now and then, noticing that Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape seemed to be taking turns looking after him. '_I just hope they'll release me in time for class_,' he thought as he obediently took sips from the cup of hot chocolate Professor Snape pressed against his lips.

It was just in time for breakfast that Harry's temperature was finally back to normal, and Harry begged the Mediwitch to release him.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, but I need to ask Professor Snape if we can already give you the shot. If someone has a fever, we have to wait for forty-eight hours after it's gone. I must ask him how it is in your case."

Harry groaned in annoyance, noticing that he was glad to see the Potions Master for the first time when the man swept into the room a few minutes later. The professor checked on him and gave him the shot right away.

"You may leave," the man finally said. "You may feel pain in your arm or even in your whole body. If you feel very unwell, have a bad headache or notice that you get a fever, come back immediately," he instructed him as he pocketed his wand.

"Yes sir. Thank you, sir," Harry replied gratefully and hurriedly left the hospital wing. '_That man exaggerates_,' he thought a few hours later as he entered the Potions classroom for his first afternoon class, feeling just as normal after the vaccination as everyone else of his classmates seemed to feel. However, when he was sitting in the Transfiguration classroom another two hours later, he suddenly realised that all the symptoms the professor had listed up in the morning began to appear. At first, his left arm became very heavy. '_Thank God it's not my wand arm_,' he thought, only to notice soon that he could hardly lift his right arm either.

"Try again, Mr. Potter," McGonagall instructed him, and Harry felt his head explode in pain as he tried over and over to make his right arm do the correct wand movements. "Mr. Potter, are you feeling all right?" the professor asked in concern as he suddenly shivered badly.

"I'm fine," Harry whispered, causing Hermione, who was sitting next to him, to snort and quickly take his hand in hers.

"Professor, I think Harry is running a temperature," she said, and McGonagall worriedly placed a cold hand on Harry's forehead, making a violent shiver shake his body.

"Mr. Potter, you're burning up, probably from the after effects of the vaccination. Ms. Granger, please escort him to the hospital wing."

Feeling too bad to protest, Harry slowly dragged himself to Madam Pomfrey's domain, sighing in relief as his achy body came to lie down in the bed he had only vacated a few hours before. '_Why is it always me?_' he thought in annoyance when the Mediwitch instructed him to try to sleep. '_No one else seems to have problems with the vaccination_.' He half-heartedly listened to Hermione's rambling about classes and not worrying because he could easily catch up, even if he had to miss a day. '_Day? It's evening_,' his foggy mind screamed as he finally drifted off to sleep, only to wake up during the night feeling even worse. He barely registered that kind hands pressed a glass of water against his lips, apparently knowing that he was so very thirsty, before they adjusted an icy-cold cloth on his burning forehead.

"Thank you," Harry whispered gratefully, trying in vain to prevent his teeth from chattering. "So cold."

"I know. I had the same problems after the vaccination," a soft, baritone voice replied, causing Harry to open his eyes in shock.

"Don't even move, Mr. Potter. Just go back to sleep. You'll be all right in a few hours," the voice told him patiently.

When Harry woke up a few hours later, he wasn't sure if it had been a dream or if the Potions Master had indeed spoken to him and helped him during the night. He had to remain in Madam Pomfrey's claws for another night, before he finally felt as good as new. '_Well, as annoying as it was to feel as if I had caught the flu, it was definitely not as bad as coming down with the real thing_,' he thought as he entered the Great Hall for breakfast.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

'_Whom could I expect to have the same side effects as I? Of course Potter_,' Severus thought in annoyance when he observed the third year Slytherins and Gryffindors enter the Potions classroom. '_Oh well, let's hope no one caught the swine flu before coming to Hogwarts and getting the shot, especially since I'm still the only one, who received the vaccination early enough to be immune by now_.' He let his sharp eyes wander around the classroom, unobtrusively lingering on his students' faces for a few seconds like he had made a habit to do at the beginning of every class.

However, everything seemed to be all right, and Severus slowly relaxed, at least until the last afternoon class on Friday, when he took in Harry Potter's face. The boy was pale as a ghost, but his cheeks were feverishly flushed.

"Mr. Potter, you will sit here today," he motioned for the boy to sit alone in the first row, noticing that the dunderhead didn't even do as much as glare at him in protest, while the annoying know-it-all immediately opened her mouth as could be expected.

"Five points from Gryffindor for disturbing my class," Severus snarled, and with a flick of his wand the potions recipe appeared on the board. "Begin brewing."

He closely observed the boy in the first row, noticing to his surprise that he seemed to exactly know what he was doing and managed to brew a flawless potion. However, he also realised that the boy seemed to have a sore throat, because he winced every time he swallowed. From time to time he let out a muffled cough, thankfully trying to cough into his elbow. '_I'll keep him after class and check on him_,' Severus resolved as he waited for the students to finish their potions.

However, seconds before he intended to dismiss everyone, Neville Longbottom managed to blow his cauldron up, and Severus was busy checking on the boy and cleaning his surroundings that he forgot about the other boy for a moment. By the time he remembered to keep Harry, the boy had already left the classroom.

'_I'll keep him after dinner_,' Severus decided as he made his way to the Great Hall, only to realise that Harry Potter apparently had the gull to miss the meal.

"Where is Potter?" he asked Minerva, who looked over to her House table in surprise. "I'm afraid that he is ill, and we need to put him into quarantine, if we don't want to risk a mass outbreak of the swine flu."

The Scottish lioness paled, and she quickly walked over to the Gryffindor table to exchange a few words with a certain Ms. Know-it-all. "He told Ms. Granger that he wasn't hungry and would remain in the common room," Minerva informed him a few minutes later. "I'll go and check on him."

"No Minerva; I'll go and check on him. You're not fully immune yet," Severus said firmly and rose from his seat. As soon as he had left the Great Hall, he transformed into his magical lynx form and dashed to the Gryffindor tower.

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked politely when he transformed back.

"You know as well as I that I'm a professor here," Severus growled. "I need to check on a student, who might have the swine flu. So open up NOW."

The Fat Lady threw him a frightened look as he mentioned the illness and quickly swung back. Severus entered the common room, noticing that the boy, whom he was looking for, was curled up on the sofa in front of the fireplace, deeply engrossed in his Potions book.

"Mr. Potter," Severus addressed the boy in a quiet voice as not to startle him. "I hope you have a good explanation for missing dinner."

Harry jumped up from his seat. His ears were strangely clogged up, and he hadn't heard the professor until he stood next to him and talked to him. "I'm sorry, Professor. I wasn't hungry," he said in a small voice, sounding slightly hoarse.

"Not being hungry is as much a sign of an illness as your failing voice," Severus sneered, noticing that the boy's eyes were glazed over feverishly.

"I am not ill," Harry objected firmly, unconsciously rubbing his forehead. "Well, maybe I caught a slight cold," he added on the disbelieving look he received from the professor. "But it's not bad, and I'm fine."

"I see," Severus replied thoughtfully. "Well, let's make a deal. I'm going to take your temperature, and if you don't have a fever, you may stay here and suffer from your cold. However, if your temperature is above thirty-eight degrees, I'm going to take you with me."

"No, I'm fine," Harry replied, although his voice became weak and uncertain.

"I can see that," Severus replied dryly and pointed his wand at the boy's forehead. "Thirty-nine point five. Mr. Potter, put your book away and come with me."

Harry groaned in annoyance but obediently followed the professor's instructions.

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"Professor, do you think that I caught the swine flu, before you gave me the shot?" Harry croaked as they walked down to the dungeons in a very slow pace. '_He is really nice to wait for me to catch up_,' he thought, noticing that he felt as if he had just run a marathon when they arrived at the door to the professor's office.

"I have to check on you with Muggle methods to be sure," Snape replied surprisingly gently and led him through his office into what seemed to be his private quarters.

Harry only realised that the professor's rooms were very light as the evening sunshine streamed into the living room through huge charmed windows. However, he didn't look around further but gratefully let himself sink into the bed in the professor's guest room.

"Since I am the only person in the castle, who received the shot more than two weeks ago and thus can't catch the swine flu anymore, you will have to remain in my quarters in quarantine," the Potions Master explained. "Unfortunately, I am not a Healer or a doctor, but I will try to find out what is wrong." With a wave of his wand, he transfigured Harry's school clothing into soft pyjamas, before he motioned for the boy to wait for an instant and left the room. When he returned, he brought a small black bag, from which he pulled several Muggle devices. He thoroughly listened to Harry's lung and looked into his mouth, ears and eyes, before he sat on the edge of the bed and gripped Harry's wrist. Finally, he once more magically checked the boy's temperature, noticing that it was even higher than before.

"I am not one hundred percent sure, but I suspect that you caught the swine flu, Mr. Potter," he finally said.

Harry let out a few harsh coughs, before he lay back in exhaustion. "I'm sorry for being such a burden, Professor," he whispered hoarsely. "I'm going to get sick," he added urgently, leaning towards the edge of the bed.

Severus quickly conjured a bucket, in which Harry's stomach emptied itself. "Unfortunately, I have yet to develop a potion for the swine flu. I can only give you the one for the wizard's flu. Apparently, it works, but it'll take a few days to recover completely." With a flick of his wand he spelled the flu potion as well as a fever reducing potion into Harry's system. "Try to sleep, Mr. Potter. I will inform your Head of House."

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Severus stepped to the fireplace and spoke consecutively with Minerva, Poppy and the Headmaster, before he retired to his office to grade papers, his least favourite task. '_Oh well, maybe looking after a sick Potter is still worse_,' he mused. He checked on the boy and gave him his next dose of potions every four hours. However, two days later, the boy's fever had yet to break, his voice had vanished completely, and whenever Severus forced the child to eat at least a small portion of soup, he became sick right afterwards.

"I'm sorry, Professor," Harry whispered, trying to fight the tears back that made their way out of his half-open glassy eyes.

"You don't have to be sorry, Mr. Potter. I'm sorry that I can't help you more efficiently," Severus replied, before he once again checked on the boy with Muggle methods. "Maybe it's not the flu but something else. It could be some kind of throat infection, considering that your throat seems to be very infected," he said thoughtfully, waving his wand over the boy. "No," he said resignedly, "not a throat infection. I'm going to call Madam Pomfrey."

"No sir, I don't want to endanger Madam Pomfrey," Harry croaked, reaching for the professor's cold hand.

"It's already one week since she received the shot, and frankly speaking I'm not so sure if it's not something else that's ailing you, especially since the flu potion seems not to work at all," Severus replied tiredly. He strode through the room and knelt down in front of the fireplace, feeling very reassured when the Healer joined him a few seconds later.

"Severus, are you feeling all right?" she asked in concern. "You look worse for the wear."

"I'm fine," Severus replied. "I'm just concerned that my diagnosis seems to have been wrong." He suddenly let out a few harsh coughs that caused his colleague to give him a sharp look. '_I just hope that I'm not coming down whatever the boy has_,' he thought as he led Pomfrey into his guest room and hovered in the door frame to watch.

"Hello Mr. Potter," the Healer said kindly.

"Hello Madam Pomfrey," Harry replied in a barely audible voice.

The witch waved her wand over the boy a few times, casting a series of diagnostic spells, before she pointed her wand at his head to take his temperature, frowning at the numbers that emerged from the tip of her wand. "A bad case of tonsillitis," she said quietly. "Severus, do you want me to take Mr. Potter to the hospital wing?"

Severus stepped over to the Healer's side. "No, it's all right," he said tiredly. "Mr. Potter must be feeling bad enough. There is no need to aggravate his condition by moving him. I can look after him." He flinched back when he suddenly felt a cold hand on his forehead.

"Severus, you are sick as well," Pomfrey said sternly. "Sit on the edge of Mr. Potter's bed and let me quickly check on you."

"I'm fine," he tried to protest weakly but obediently sat next to Harry, knowing that he was probably coming down with something.

"Absolute bed rest for you as well, Severus. Your temperature is not much lower than Mr. Potter's," the Healer informed him and waved her wand to conjure a second bed next to the opposite wall. "Please get into bed right away. I'll fetch a few potions from your lab." With a flick of her wand, the Potions Master was dressed in dark green pyjamas, causing Harry to let out a small chuckle that unfortunately turned into a coughing fit.

"Behave yourself, Mr. Potter," Severus said warningly, noticing that his voice was beginning to sound hoarse.

"I'm so sorry for getting you sick, Professor," Harry croaked, nestling deep under his covers.

"It's not your fault," Severus whispered, unconsciously sighing in relief as his achy head came to lie on his pillow.

During the next few days, both wizards remained very ill and spent most of the time sleeping. Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall took turns looking after the two of them, torn between concern because they were feeling so poorly and relief because the Healer's normally most stubborn patients were extremely obedient due to their lack of the energy they would need to resist their instructions. When Madam Pomfrey came to check on them on Friday evening, their fever had finally broken and both of them were feeling much better.

"May I return to my dormitory?" Harry asked eagerly. "I feel much better."

"You will still remain in bed over the weekend," the Healer informed them in a no-nonsense voice. "Only if your fever comes down completely, you may get up, and if it stays down for a whole day, you may leave these quarters, both of you."

"But I tell you now that..."

"No Severus; I mean it," Pomfrey interrupted him sternly. "Unfortunately, I'm going to be at St. Mungo's for a training course over the weekend. Minerva will come and check on you. Please behave for her."

"Poppy, we don't need a baby-sitter. We can very well look after each other," Severus objected, causing Harry to agree immediately.

"We'll be fine. There is no need for Professor McGonagall to come here."

Sighing in exasperation, the Healer unobtrusively spelled the potions into her patients' systems, efficiently ending the conversation as both of them drifted off to a much needed healing sleep.

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When Professor McGonagall entered the guest room in Severus quarters on Saturday morning to check on her patients, the two sick wizards were sitting on the edges of their beds playing wizard's chess at a table that was placed between their beds.

"Did Madam Pomfrey allow you to get up?" she queried, surprised to see the Potions Master and the son of his childhood enemy peacefully play together.

"We're in bed, Professor," Harry replied in a small voice, "and we're fine."

"We'll see," McGonagall said sternly and pointed her wand at the table, levitating it out of the way, before she pulled two Muggle thermometers out of her robe pocket and handed them to Severus and Harry. "Please take your temperature. I'm sorry that I can't do this with a spell."

Exchanging a glance of absolute annoyance, Severus and Harry complied, receiving a frown when the Transfiguration professor took back the devices. "You're both still running a fever. Take your potions, lie down and rest. You can play wizard's chess when your condition improves further," she said sternly, handing each of them two phials.

Seeing with surprise that Severus complied, Harry lay down as well, although he didn't feel so bad and would have preferred to continue their game. '_I hope they'll let me go back to classes on Monday_,' he thought. '_I missed the complete second week_.' He heard the Floo flare as his Head of House stepped into the fireplace.

Suddenly, Severus spoke up quietly. "Mr. Potter, there is something about which I'd like to speak with you."

Harry turned to his side, popping up his head on his hand, and looked questioningly at the professor.

"I witnessed several of your nightmares," the professor began hesitantly, coughing. "I'd like to get to know more about your home life."

"I'm sorry," Harry whispered, terrified. "Can you teach me a silencing spell, sir?" he asked, throwing the teacher a pleading look.

Severus cleared his throat. "I think you misunderstood what I was implying, Mr. Potter. If your home life is so horrible as it seemed in your nightmares and you're abused at your home, you should speak about it with someone. Of course this someone doesn't have to be me; however, considering that we have time and are confined to these beds for at least two more days, I believe that it would be a good opportunity."

"I don't know what you mean," Harry said hoarsely, rubbing his forehead against the recurring headache.

"Mr. Potter," Severus said in an equally hoarse voice, slightly leaning over, "If you tell me the truth, I can promise that you won't have to return to your relatives ever again. You will be able to remain at Hogwarts over the summer. However..."

"Professor, I asked Professor Dumbledore if I could remain at Hogwarts last year and the year before, but he always said it wasn't possible for students to stay here over the holidays," Harry replied in a barely audible voice.

"Why exactly did you ask the Headmaster if you could remain here?" Severus asked softly.

"Because Hogwarts is my home," Harry whispered. "My relatives despise me because of being a wizard..." he slowly trailed off, pulling his covers up to his chin.

"Does your uncle beat you?" Severus queried, clearing his throat.

Harry quietly averted his eyes to his covers, letting out a series of coughs. "Sometimes, he punished me, sir," he finally replied. "Like when I did accidental magic."

"How exactly did he punish you?" Severus asked again. "I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, but if you want me to help you, you need to tell me the truth. It's not enough that I witnessed your nightmares."

"Professor," Harry asked, shivering slightly, "why would you want to help me? You hate me, sir, don't you?"

"I don't hate you, Mr. Potter," Severus replied, letting out a long sigh. "In fact, your mother was my best friend, and a few weeks before she died, she asked me to protect you. She even made me swear an oath that I would try to protect you. The way how I behaved towards you in front of other students is because I have to keep up appearances. However, if you admit the abuse, I'm willing to put up a fight with the Headmaster and take you in, so that you won't have to return there."

"I'm not abused," Harry said quietly. "He only beat me when he wanted to punish me."

Severus raised an eyebrow, realising that he had to finish the conversation soon in order not to further aggravate the boy's condition. "Did your relatives feed you on a regular basis?"

"Well, they didn't starve me," Harry croaked, rubbing his forehead. "They gave me something to eat every day."

"Madam Pomfrey told me that you lost much weight over the summer holidays," Severus explained, "which proves that they didn't give you enough to eat. Very well, I suggest that you try to sleep for a while to get rid of your headache. We will speak with the Headmaster as soon as Madam Pomfrey allows us to leave this room."

"Thank you, sir," Harry said gratefully and obediently closed his eyes.

Severus observed how the boy drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face. '_Lily, I don't know if I'll be a good guardian, but I'll try to raise your son better than your sister_,' he thought and closed his eyes in order to take a short nap as well, while a small smile was playing on his lips.

**The End.**


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